Shey ‘Rí Acu’ Rivera Ríos (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural strategist, and arts administrator. Rivera uses storytelling across mediums to create immersive worlds of magic and liberation. Rivera has 10 years of experience in the nonprofit arts sector intersecting creative practice with urban planning and racial equity. Rivera was former Co-Director and Artistic Director of AS220, a renowned arts organization and creative incubator in Providence, RI, and successor to AS220’s founder Umberto Crenca. After 8 years at AS220, Rivera took on the role of Director of Inclusive Regional Development at MIT CoLab, in the Dept of Urban Studies and Planning of MIT, where they co-designed and implemented workshops on collective leadership and community innovation in Colombia. Today, Rivera is an independent artist and consultant for the arts sector. Rivera is the founder of Studio Loba in Providence, a storytelling lab that designs and produces artistic and cultural projects that support social change. Notable projects include: Lead curator for El Corazón de Holyoke public art project (Holyoke, MA), Mi Gente Public Art project (Providence, RI), new media and activist art projects MoralDocs and FANTASY ISLAND, Luna Loba performance series, and the theatrical productions Antigonx (2022) and Fire Flowers and a Time Machine (2020). Rivera was born and raised in Borikén/Puerto Rico and is based in Providence, RI -land of Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples.
